Why I love London: Reason #42

People often compliment me on the courage and determination it must have taken to move across the ocean. I never quite know how to respond to this, because as far as I'm concerned, moving here was no act of courage at all. It actually would have been a much greater struggle for me to stay put. I moved here, quite simply, to scratch my interminably itchy feet.

I come from a long line of wanderers. You don't have to look far to see it: my family is spread far and wide, and my mother alone has lived across (and holds citizenship in) three countries. Look a little further down my family tree and you'll find explorers, pioneers, Vikings, and conquerors. You'd be hard-pressed to find a European country that isn't somehow involved in my lineage.

I'm also hugely interested in everything relating to human behaviour and the mind. I love travelling to new places because there's very little that excites me more than experiencing, for the first time, where and how a group of people live. But of course, sampling a culture for a few precious days isn't the same as becoming a part of it. Here in London, I'm perfectly placed to be involved in both the breadth and depth of anthropological observation.

Not only am I living in a new country and within easy reach of dozens more, but London itself is a pretty reasonable microcosm of the globe. With over 300 languages regularly spoken here, and nearly 30% of its population having been born outside the UK, London is one of the most multi-cultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world. It's impossible to escape the beautiful array of accents, colours, and flavours, and nearly every street and alley I step into in London feels like a different reality. It's mind-boggling just how much diversity there is here.

And that's part of what's making my next move (a much smaller one this time) so exciting. South London is even more multi-ethnic than the city centre, and among the neighbourhood pubs (Hermits Cave! What a brilliant name!) are restaurants specialising in Bengali, Nigerian, Eritrean, and countless other lesser-known cuisines from around the world. Not to mention a highly-rated Spanish tapas bar, so I can get my taste of Spain after all.

Cake: I am having you. And eating you too.